Text message led intel agents to Tiamzons

MANILA, Philippines - A text message received late last year led government intelligence agents to a safehouse in Cebu, where ranking leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were hiding.

A police intelligence officer admitted they had no idea where Benito and Wilma Tiamzon were until they received the text message.            

The officer said it took four months of surveillance to confirm that the subject of the message was the Tiamzon couple.

The text sender will receive a reward of P5.6 million, as the government acknowledged that the arrest of the couple was a big blow to the communist movement.

The reward to informants is provided under a joint circular of the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police.

“It would take the communist movement several months not only to replace the Tiamzons in their hierarchy, but also to reinvent their programs and operations due to the recovery of documents and computer gadgets from the two NPA leaders,” said the officer who requested anonymity.

The government agents, he said, were supposed to serve the arrest warrants against the Tiamzons on a Sunday.

They decided to proceed with it a day earlier as they noticed the couple began to sense they were being followed and were trying to escape.

Benito, chairman of the CPP-NPA, and his wife Wilma, secretary-general, along with five other communist rebels were arrested by security forces in the village of Zaragosa, in Aloguinsan town last Saturday.

The Tiamzons are facing 15 counts of murder.

The source said the aides of the Tiamzons rented the bungalow in January last year for P15,000 a month.

The couple reportedly moved in after their men finished installing the communication and monitoring equipment.

They reportedly told neighbors they were computer technicians to justify the satellite discs, closed-circuit TV cameras, computers and cable and Internet connections in the house.

But the neighbors reportedly suspected the couple was part of a group involved in the manufacture of illegal drugs, as they often saw Wilma alone walking around, while Benito and the other men stayed inside most of the time.

It was at this point when authorities received the text message.

The police and military intelligence agents took turns conducting surveillance on the Tiamzon safehouse.

“The Tiamzons apparently opted to settle in Cebu thinking nobody would suspect them due to a declaration that the province is ‘insurgency free’,” the intelligence officer said.

“We have a hard time identifying whether Benito was our real target, as he was still young in the pictures that we have in our files. He has grown old and his face has changed,” the source told The STAR.

He said they also monitored the movement of the couple and their staff, which helped convince them they were on the right track.

“The Tiamzons, just like their colleagues abroad, are living lavishly, while their combatants in the mountains are hungry and uncomfortable,” the police officer said.

Aside from computers and other gadgets confiscated from the safehouse, the police and military intelligence agents seized more than 20 cellular phones.

New cases

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved the filing of new criminal cases, aside from the pending multiple murder and other charges earlier filed, against the NPA’s power couple.

The DOJ has found probable cause to indict the Tiamzons and their companions – Joel Enano, Arlene Panea, Jose Villaflor, Rex Villaflor, Nona Castillo and Jeosi Nepa – for illegal possession of firearms and explosives following their arrest on March 22.

It also found probable cause to file a separate case against the other respondents for allegedly “obstructing arrest of criminals.”

The justice department based its decision on the statement of the arresting officers who saw the firearms, ammunition and explosives in the couple’s safehouse during the search operation.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said the cases would be filed today in a Cebu court.

For its part, the military would leave it up to the court to decide on the case of the Tiamzons  and their companions, said Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala.

Flight risk

The Tiamzons are considered a flight risk and should remain at the highly secured detention in Camp Crame, said Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Magalong said records would prove the need for a tightened security arrangement for the couple, noting that Wilma escaped from detention barely two weeks after her arrest in 1989.

He said the intense security setup inside the PNP national headquarters would make it difficult for the Tiamzon couple to either escape or be rescued by their comrades and supporters.

Aside from being highly secured, Magalong noted the PNP Custodian could properly monitor the blood pressure of the couple, who were said to be hypertensive.

“They are well taken care of here. They have regular medical exams like blood pressure monitoring,” Magalong said.

He said the cases against the couple and their companions are strong as the police and military have concrete evidence against them.

The lawyer of the Tiamzons, however, claimed the evidence is planted since the two were just carrying cats and puppies at the time of their arrest.

Magalong debunked the lawyer, saying the couple’s stature in the organization would show they need protective details.

Meanwhile, a consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF), political arm of the communist party, expressed hope the peace talks between them and the government would push through despite the arrest of the Tiamzons and the killing of their supporter in Ifugao.

Randy Felix Malayao said the killing of William Bugati, which occurred after the arrest of the Tiamzon couple, should not deter the peace effort.

“All roads to peace must be vigorously pursued no matter how difficult,” Malayo said. – With Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Raymund Catindig